Suburban Cyborg

by Gloria Martin

  He grabbed her hand, holding it against his heart and looking into her eyes in the dim moonlight. “Tessa. I’m exactly the man you met. Money isn’t who I am. It wasn’t an act. I’m the man who would rather cool down his own horse. I’m that man who thinks paying others to do your hard work is a waste of money. I’m that man that would rather spend the afternoon watching his niece ride a horse in a rinky-dink show ring than play the ponies at Del Mar. I never claimed to be anyone else and having money doesn’t change that.”

  Tessa sighed. He had her there.

  “Tessa, talk to me. Say something. Anything.”

  “I didn’t tell you that I had money because I didn’t want you to judge me for being rich.” She laughed, swiping away the tears that had escaped. “I wanted you to see who I was before you knew the truth.”

  Mike chuckled, gently wiping away her tears with his thumb.

  “See. We’re not that different, you and I. Let’s say we give us a shot. No secrets this time.”

  She nodded and smiled. He bent down and kissed her cheek softly. Mike took her into his arms and pulled her close.

  “Is there anything else I need to know about you?”

  “Not really,” Mike said. “Well, maybe one thing.”

  He turned her towards him and tilted her chin up and penetrated her gaze with his piercing stare. He rubbed his thumb gently over her cheek. “I don’t know when it happened, but Tessa, I love you. Will you be my date for tonight?”

  He didn’t wait for her answer, kissing her long and hard before pulling away. She gasped, trying to catch her breath.

  “Yes.” She nodded enthusiastically. She slid her arm in his and walked back into the ballroom through the side door.

  This time, when she walked into the ballroom, she was beaming. She was wrong before, when she had thought the ballroom had been every woman’s dream come true.

  Wrapped in Mike’s strong arms she realized, this was a dream come true. Her dream come true.

  THE END

  Bonus Story 7/40

  Mated to the Vampires

  Allison

  “I can’t believe you’re doing this Ali, you really don’t have to move,” my best friend Rylen pouted and gave me her big blue puppy eyes. I sighed and then went over to give her a big hug.

  “It’s time for a change, it’s something I have to do,” I said and she squeezed me tight before eventually letting go.

  “Alright…I’m coming to visit once you’re settled in okay?” she gave me a pointed look and I laughed.

  “Yes, I want you to come visit. Don’t worry, as soon as I get the guest room set up we’re getting you a ticket,” I told her and she nodded with a heavy sigh.

  “Okay…face time me every day and don’t forget to give Maddy a call too from time to time. He’ll miss you,” Maddy was Rylen’s brother and we had all been friends for a long time. Though Maddy and I had grown apart some when he moved out of the city for work.

  “I’ll keep in touch with everyone, don’t worry Ry. Now I really have to go before I miss my flight,” I told her and she sighed again.

  “Okay… Call me when you land,” she said after hugging me once more. I grabbed the handle of my carry on and then finally took my first steps towards a new life. I was moving to Old Town, Maine from Jersey City. Yeah it was a big change, but I wanted the change, I felt as if my sanity counted on it. Once I was settled on the plane I got comfortable in my seat and pretty much zoned everything out until the beautiful landscape of Maine was below me. I felt like a little kid with my nose pressed against the window.

  The end of fall was probably the wrong time to move all the way to Maine, but I was sure the winters couldn’t be that much worse compared to Jersey. Plus, everything looked so… green.

  Getting off the plane and catching a cab to my new house took a few hours. But once I was standing in the foyer I took a deep breath and felt like I had done the right thing. Thankfully, movers had gotten everything set up for the most part. All I had to do was empty a few boxes in each room and unpack the stuff in my suitcases. I walked leisurely through the house, it was pretty big, but I loved the charm of it. There were four bedrooms, three and a half baths, an updated kitchen with adjoining dining room. Then there was the downstairs living room, sun room, and out back a nice deck. Upstairs there was a family room and surrounding it a couple of bedrooms, the others were on the lower floor. The house was perfect. I could see myself there forever, maybe with a husband eventually and a couple of kids…

  A heavy knock sounded on the door and I wondered who would be visiting me. I hurried down to answer it without checking first and discovered a huge… gorgeous guy standing on the porch.

  “Hello, my name is Blayne,” he said in a deep, friendly voice. He was definitely upwards of six feet and built to go along with it. Though it was chilly—forty degrees—he wore a short-sleeved black shirt and khaki shorts. From the look of his thick, defined arms he definitely worked out a lot.

  “Uh… Hi, I’m Allison,” I smiled at him politely and he merely smirked in return. There was something about his frosty blue eyes, the way they focused on me, that was vaguely unsettling. Otherwise he was gorgeous, he looked like he stepped out of an Armani ad. He had that chiseled jaw and chin, perfect cheekbones, not too high or defined. He had thick lashes around his eyes and a razor straight nose. His eyebrows weren’t too thick or too feminine looking. Also he had that perfect five o’clock shadow accented by curly shoulder length hair that was loose around his shoulders.

  “I live just next door and I saw that someone was moving in, now here you are,” he smiled at me and I chuckled, a bit nervously.

  “Yeah, I uh, I’m coming from new Jersey, so my things got moved in before I did,” I said and he nodded slowly, his eyes looking around over my shoulder.

  “I used to know the couple who lived here before you, they moved south for fairer weather,” he said conversationally and then his eyes locked onto mine… again with that strange unsettling focus. “Anyhow, I just wanted to welcome you into the neighborhood. We are a pretty close knit community here… sometimes people don’t take too kindly to outsiders. But I’m sure you’ll fit in,” he said and took a step back, as if to leave.

  “Wait, what do you mean people don’t take too kindly to outsiders?” I asked him, that was definitely a weird thing of him to say.

  “Like I said… it’s a close knit community,” was all he replied and then with one last wave, he turned around and left. I closed the door and locked it behind him… That was definitely weird. I tried not to let his words bother me, hopefully I wouldn't have trouble with him. I really liked the house and I thought Maine was a beautiful place. Whatever, I wouldn’t let him scare me, that was for sure.

  *****

  Blayne

  “Dammit,” I muttered to myself as I all but ran from Allison’s porch. I had one job and one I was good at. To turn away outsiders, human or otherwise, get them to leave, or run them out of town if I had to. Yet one look at her aquamarine eyes and I couldn’t even deliver my script correctly. Instead of instilling a real caution or fear in her, I probably only made myself seem like a weirdo.

  Then her scent seemed to follow me off of the porch, it was like some mixture of fruit and heat that had my brain misfiring. We usually hardly drank directly from humans anymore, but dammit if I hadn’t had about seven different fantasies of taking her vein right there on the porch. This was a problem, this was definitely a problem… and I needed to get a grip.

  “Blayne!” the familiar voice of my buddy Alec, and also the future leader of our coven, beckoned me from the front door of my house.

  “What are you doing here?” the question came out a lot more brusquely than I had intended and part of me knew it was due to instinct, a territorial urge, because on some baser level he was close to Allison and I wanted her…though I shouldn’t.

  “Whoa, I’m not welcome at your home?” he asked me and I took a deep breath.

  “Sorr
y, I’m distracted. What’s up?” I asked as I stepped inside after him.

  “Well there’s another house that’s been built in our territory and we think it’s another human moving into town.” Alec sighed and ran his hand through his blond hair, it was always cut short and perfectly combed back on his head.

  “I’m already on that first assignment, can’t Luke handle this one?” I asked, Luke was another fighter of my kind, we were bred to be cunning and stealthy. When the coven wasn’t in times of war, we were utilized to keep the territory clean of unwanted squatters… as we called them.

  “I figured you’d be done dispatching that one already. Isn’t the house right next to here?” Alec walked over to the window in the living room and looked out at Allison’s house.

  “I fell behind. I was supposed to get rid of her stuff before she got here…but—well now things have changed,” I said and Alec looked at me with a quirked eyebrow.

  “It’s a she now?” he asked and I rolled my eyes.

  “Yes the human who moved in next door is a woman. Don’t worry, I just have to scare her enough and she’s gone,” Alec nodded, he didn’t seem at all concerned that I had dropped the ball and was even referring to an outsider as she. Usually we spoke of them in the vaguest terms, not putting any sort of persona to them.

  “Alright then, I’ll go to Luke with the other case. Don’t forget the council meeting tonight,” he said and then disappeared. All vampires now of days had evolved that little sensitivity to the sun out of our genes. Though it did pop up from time to time and it was seen as a disorder. Along with all the heightened natural abilities and senses, we could disperse our cells, dematerialize, and inherently ghost away. It was a faster way to travel and track prey. Though in modern times the most hunting we did was break into blood banks and steal some bags for the added nutrition we needed. Humans would have been surprised though, there were just about as many of us on Earth as humans. Their census was all out of whack, the correct number of humans on Earth was about half of what modern governments thought. Though to keep the peace, we vampires simply blended in and lived intermingled with the humans. Though we had our own underground governments and ways of life.

  As I paced my living room, I kept glancing out the window, wondering what Allison was doing, if she was unpacking or wondering about what I said. If I showed up at her door again she’d probably call the cops or something.

  “Hey Blayne,” Alec materialized in the room not five minutes after he had left. “Luke wants to set a fire in that construction site where the new house is being built. But he needs your help,” Alec said and I gestured to him.

  “Why can’t you help him?”

  “Because I’m lazy, you know this, and my father wants me to shadow him on a meeting with a neighboring coven leader,” Alec answered and I waved him away and nodded.

  “Alright, I’ll meet with Luke,” with that Alec was gone once more. I used the same method of transportation, willing myself apart and away to get to Luke’s home.

  “There you are, I was going to call you, but Alec said something about wanting to waste time…” Luke said and I shook my head and chuckled. Alec enjoyed stressing his father for some unfathomable reason.

  “Alec is a strange one, but when has he not been? So are we committing arson today?” Luke chuckled and rubbed his hands together in anticipation. He was a burly guy with strong masculine features that drew females left and right. But Luke was normally a gentle soul, apart from when he did his job of course.

  “Yes, though it will waste whoever’s money it is. At least I don’t have to go about harassing the outsider. I hope I’m not taking you away from your assignment?” he asked me and I shrugged.

  “This one will take a bit of time, but it is nothing to worry over,” I said dismissively and Luke nodded.

  “Alright, so this is what I was thinking. The house is nearly complete and it appears as if the electric systems are being currently installed. We could easily sabotage a bit of wiring, then flip a switch and…” Luke made a blowing up gesture with his hands, his eyes gone wide in youthful excitement and I chuckled.

  “Very well, are there any personnel on the site right now?” I asked him and he shook his head.

  “It’s Sunday, no work has taken place today so we can go right now and get things set up,” he said and gestured me to follow him to the site. It was strange that I could feel a physical pull towards Allison the farther from her that I got.

  *****

  Alec

  “So you’re saying the humans are onto members of your coven because of their sloppiness in stealing from the blood banks in your territory,” I broke the silence that ensued after Victor, the head of our neighboring coven in Newport, gave his speech. He wanted access to our blood banks until suspicions surrounding the ones in his territory died down. “So now you want to use the banks in our territory…” Victor seemed annoyed, but attempted to hide it. He couldn’t afford not to keep things peaceful with my father and I. Our territory and our coven was larger and more powerful than Victor's.

  “Of course we would not step on any toes. If we collaborate on schedules I’m sure we can figure out a system to share for only a matter of a couple months,” Victor said and my father, Orin, shook his head.

  “Pardon my son’s harsh tongue. But you must admit Victor, this plan, even before conception, is not a good one. The runners of your coven seem sloppy and rushed, greedy even. If I allowed you to make runs on the banks here then I’d be putting my own coven in the same situation yours is in,” my father spoke in measured tones and exuded confidence and power. Some would say that I still had much to learn from him. Yeah I was less patient than he, but I was just as smart as he. Victor took a great long sigh and pressed his lips together.

  “You have to understand that I had to at least try,” he said eventually and my father nodded sagely.

  “Perhaps a better solution can be concocted, Alec. Why don’t you brainstorm with Victor? Unfortunately, I have another meeting I must attend,” my father’s suggestion wasn’t taken well by Victor. But I knew father only sought to give me another lesson in ruling a coven. Which meant getting along with neighboring ones. Orin stood up from his oak desk and then bid a formal farewell to Victor before he left his office. Not only was my father leader of our coven, but he was mayor of Old Town, which habited a completely vampire population.

  “So…any ideas?” Victor asked me and I remembered to try and be patient and measured like my father.

  “How about we increase the amount of units our runners retrieve from our blood banks and simply send it to you via trade route,” I suggested and Victor was impressed.

  “What would you have in exchange for the blood?” he asked me and I sat back in my seat, next to his and across my father’s desk, to think about that. Victor’s coven was small and less powerful, but they did have certain formulas for wines and spirits and such that our coven traded with them for. As well as other covens in the region. In fact, Victor’s coven was known for being brewers.

  “For the duration of our sharing blood with you…your shipments of all wines and spirits will be free, though we of course will continue to share medicines and trade the goods we currently share with you,” I said and Victor considered this.

  “I think we should arrange for another meeting with your father present to decide upon the best configuration of trade in exchange for the blood, then I will return to Newport to consult our council and hopefully a well arrangement can ensue,” Victor said and I stifled a sigh.

  “Of course, I shall let my father know of what we’ve discussed. Please continue to feel welcome in Old Town until we can all meet again,” I told Victor as we both stood and soon after we went our separate ways. Perhaps I should have thought the trade question through some more. Since that business was over for the moment, I figured I’d find my father and speak to him quickly. Afterwards I could look in on Blayne and Luke’s business of setting the outsider’s house on fire.
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  My father was meeting with a member of our small council in one of the conference rooms of the town hall. I waited outside until he came out and Orin noticed me leaning against the wall.

  “Alec, I hope you and Victor came to some agreement?” he asked and I nodded.

  “I suggested we simply trade them extra blood our own runners would collect. But then the issue of what the handoff would be for that…” my father was a tall and physically impressive male. He had muscles that were most likely made of stone by now for how long he’s lived. He and I looked a lot alike, though I was leaner than his bulk, we had the same blonde hair and deep green eyes.

  “Well…we do trade a considerable amount of spirits from his coven, why not have those shipments free until we no longer need to trade blood?”

  “That is what I suggested, but Victor would like your input…” I said and had to work to veil my annoyance.

  “You go back to Victor, tell him you felt no need to consult me because your solution to his problem is a solid one. Victor is ancient, he will need persuasion. Remind him of the risk we are incurring for stealing more blood. We do understand his coven’s spirits are their main source of extra currency to keep up the lifestyle of vampires. But make him see that you are well aware of this and are also taking into account the best options for your coven,” father understood what Victor was doing. He didn’t want to speak to me, Orin’s son, but Orin, the current coven leader.

  “I’ll explain to him that speaking and negotiating with me is in no way a slight,” I said and my father shook his head and put his hand on my shoulder.

  “Do not, that can convey weakness. You will soon lead our coven and Victor will have to get used to this…” he trailed off and then his gaze held mine with a sincere weight. “Alec I would like to begin the process of your truly taking up my position. You know what you must do, find a mate, appoint a second in command, and take my seat,” in that moment I lost whatever paranoia or bitterness that my father might never give me the position as leader of our coven.